Fashion Degree Waste Would Build “Mountains So High You Could See All of London”
As an ex-fashion student, I have not only witnessed, but taken part, in the wasteful ways of studying fashion. In the fashion department of one of the world’s top-ranked Fashion degrees, waste was a part of the culture. I shudder with shame at the thought of the preposterous piles of paper we had to print out for each tutorial, and the large cuttings of calico and other fabrics that were destined for big bins in each corner of each studio each day.
True to the art school stereotype, the attitude of the school itself was, and still is, very liberal and environmentally-conscious… a haven of “woke”ness in south-west London. My friends and peers on the fashion degree were no different and some of us even participated (and still do) in environmental activism and are members of groups such as Extinction Rebellion. The only problem is that our actions on our fashion course did not align so well with our eco-values.
I chose to leave my Fashion BA course in 2018 and transferred to an Illustration Animation degree at the same university. I left the course for a number of reasons, and the wasteful behaviours in the department was certainly one of the straws that broke that camel’s back.
I was curious as to whether the fashion course is still as wasteful today as it was a year-and-a-half ago. Or has the department made some much-needed strides in a greener direction? I reached out to some of the students who are currently studying the course. Here is what they said.
“It’s constant printing because [the tutors] refuse to look at anything digital”
“It’s constant printing because [the tutors] refuse to look at anything digital” one current student disclosed. She went on to explain that, according to the tutors, showing work on your laptop “implied that [you] must not care / did not have time to print”.
A screenshot of correspondence with a current fashion student, via Instagram direct messages.
Another student echoed this sentiment, saying “a lot of the tutors really complain if [your work] is not all printed”.
The tutor’s insistence that all work is printed contrasts greatly to the attitudes of tutors in other departments at the art school. For example, the tutors of the Graphics department and Illustration Animation departments actually insist that you show your work digitally, because they recognise the environmental and financial costs of unnecessary printing.
Most of the students I spoke to explained that they try to be as sustainable as possible, within the circumstances. “I keep so much stuff I printed out but didn’t use [because] it feels so wasteful” one student disclosed.
A screenshot of correspondence with a current fashion student, via Instagram direct messages.
Another student told me of her efforts to reduce waste, by organising and reusing fabric and paper. “I have all the research images I have (pretty much) ever printed saved in plastic folders so I can look back and reuse ones I never used… I have bags of scrap fabric that I will use for stuffing”. She went on to say, “I think we do print a lot and use a lot of fabrics and it feels wasteful sometimes but, at the end of the day it’s personal”.
This student actually seemed to favour printed work to digital work; “I would find it difficult to work without seeing my research printed”. As an art student myself I share the student’s preference of working with physical paper, rather than working digitally. But is it necessary to have to print all research for each tutorial each week… research that is still in draft stages?
“half of what [is printed] is rejected [by the tutors] or they don’t bother to look at it”
Another student told me that “half of what [is printed] is rejected [by the tutors] or they don’t bother to look at it”. So the tutors “don’t bother” to look at all of the work, yet they “complain if it’s not all printed”, because that “implie[s] that [you] must not care”… that doesn’t seem right.
What happens to the printed work that they have “rejected”? One student told me; “[I] just have piles of scrap paper in my room… and [I] don’t really know what to do with all the old projects on paper!”
“tons of fabric waste because they insist on constantly remaking toiles”
It isn’t just paper that’s wasted; it’s fabric too. One student explained that the course produces “tons of fabric waste because they insist on constantly remaking toiles”. She disclosed that, if she wasn’t so snowed under with work from her degree, she would “go through [her] bank statement and see how many times [she] went to [a fabric store near the university] for calico and it was a LOT”.
“There [are] also bins full of calico literally every day at uni”
“There [are] also bins full of calico literally every day at uni” said another student, “loads of pieces that would be big enough for certain parts [of garments] but [I can’t] keep a million smaller pieces that can’t be used for much in my room… I don’t have space… the same with pattern paper!”
A screenshot of correspondence with a current fashion student, via Instagram direct messages.
I asked the student if they could try to estimate the yearly amount of waste from the fashion department. The response was; “the wasted materials and paper - not even mentioning time and energy - would build mountains so high you could see the whole of London from the top. I can’t even picture it”.
Ironically, it seems that the fashion department like to promote themselves as sustainable. “They’re so hot about ‘sustainable collection’ but [I] buy calico to make toiles over and over because they’re not happy with pleats, etc” said one of the current students.
Figure 2 - “Sustainability and ethics'“ at the university. A screenshot from their website.
Figure 2 is a screenshot from the university’s website, where they outline “Sustainability and ethics” at the university. It seems that the University’s “overarching Ethics Policy” does not extend itself to the fashion department, contrary to its claims that “best practice” is exercised “across the institution”.
Also on the University’s website, the page that describes the Fashion degree claims that “throughout the course, [students will] be encouraged to explore and develop expertise in current design approaches, techniques, media and application” and this includes “sustainable” design.
It’s clear to see that there is a big disparity between what the university's Fashion department claims to care about, and their actions. A word springs to mind… Greenwashing.
